Finding foundation funding from IRS 990 filings
Most organizations that depend on grants know their regular funders well. The harder question is which funders they have never heard of. A lot of that answer is already public: US foundations file annual returns with the IRS, known as 990 filings, and open federal programs are listed on Grants.gov. The work is turning those records into a short list worth a letter.
What a 990 filing can tell you
A foundation’s filing is a record of what it actually funds, not what its website says it is interested in. Read across a few years, it can suggest where a foundation gives, what kinds of organizations it supports and the size of grants it tends to make.
Start from a funding profile
Before searching, write down what you are looking for: your mission, the programs that need funding, where you work and the size of grant that would make a difference. A profile turns a list of thousands of funders into a ranked list, because every funder can be compared against the same description.
Rank by fit, and read why
A fit score is useful, but the reasons behind it matter more. For each match, look for four things:
- Eligibility: whether you can apply at all.
- The award range: whether the typical grant fits your need.
- Deadlines: whether there is time to prepare.
- How to reach the funder: whether it accepts applications, and in what form.
Then note what to watch out for, and decide the next step. Some funders take letters of inquiry first; some do not accept unsolicited proposals at all.
Keep every match tied to its source
Funding research goes stale. Link each match back to where it came from: Grants.gov, the 990 filing or the funder’s own website. When something looks wrong, anyone can check the source instead of trusting a summary.
Act on the best fits, and drop the rest
A match should end in a decision: add it to the pipeline, dismiss it, or draft the first letter. A list that only grows becomes noise.
How Phoenix Raise handles it
Phoenix Raise ranks every US foundation from its IRS 990 filings and every open federal program against your funding profile, best fit first. Each match shows a fit rating and score, eligibility, award range, deadlines and how to reach the funder, with Phoenix Raise’s read of why it fits. Every result links to its source. The Funding Scout Agent refreshes matches each morning and drafts first letters to the top fits, and nothing is sent to a funder on its own.
See it on the Phoenix Raise page for foundations and the Phoenix Raise overview.